# What's with the spacebar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 8, 2003, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738 "2003-08-08T02:35:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lagged2Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ac8455/32.png) [@Lagged2Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lagged2Death)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/21 "2003-08-08T21:13:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trigonal Planar \* > \*\*Maybe I’m crazy but I swear I’ve seen keyboards with the spacebar labelled “SPACE”. \*\* I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this too, particularly on oddball specialty keyboards (like those goofy, soft, flexible kids keyboards) with multiple and/or miniature space keys. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/22 "2003-08-09T13:23:45Z")
No for nothing, but when I was in typing class, back in the seventies, **none** of the keys had their letter/function indicated. You put your fingers on the home row and stared straight ahead at a chart on the wall where the key placement was indicated. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/23 "2003-08-09T13:36:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kirk \* > \*\*But it is labeled. It has a space on it. \*\* Best comeback I’ve seen this year. 😃 [quote}Well, the character it reperesents is invisible, a non-character, a space[/quote] As far as computers go, “space” is simply the character that consists of all white pixels and no black ones. It’s a valid character in the same way that zero is a valid integer. ---
**Author:** ![stigoftdump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@stigoftdump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stigoftdump)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/24 "2003-08-09T14:14:59Z")
But I thought zero _wasn’t_ a valid integer! ---
**Author:** ![Wolfrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bb73d2/32.png) [@Wolfrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfrick)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/25 "2003-08-09T14:31:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stigoftdump \* > \*\*But I thought zero _wasn’t_ a valid integer! \*\* Um, it sure is. It’s the integer between -1 and 1. \ Packard Bell/Hewlett Packard/Compaq/Whoever had so many tech-support calls from clueless new computer users who wanted to know why they couldn’t find a key marked “any” on their keyboard that they printed “ANY” in the middle of the spacebar of their ‘introductory computer system in a box’ computers as a cost-saving measure. \ ~Wolfrick ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/26 "2003-08-09T15:21:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xgxlx \* > \*\*And it’s kinda hard to mix up the enter and any other key, but it’s labeled. \*\* My enter key is pretty similar to my tab, caps lock, ctrl, and alt keys. Kind of. But I did have a keyboard once that had this big horkin’ enter key that dipped down into the lower row a little. THAT was an enter key. It might even have been labelled “return,” too. ---
**Author:** ![SkyBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@SkyBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkyBum)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/27 "2003-08-09T15:26:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by postcards \* > \*\*The mind bobbles at what other items in your home you’ve labelled… \*\* I took a sharpie to the reserve handle on my parachute harness the other day… It’s now labeled “Plan B” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/28 "2003-08-09T16:28:00Z")
Ah yes, the big horkin’ Return key…you could mash it with your whole fist! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/29 "2003-08-09T17:19:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by postcards \* > \*\*The mind bobbles at what other items in your home you’ve labelled… \*\* Actually I had my whole keyboard labelled with the Dvorak keys as well as Qwerty, but that ended up smudging off within 2 weeks. The only reason the spacebar hasn’t smudged off is because it’s not labelled where I rest my thumbs. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/30 "2003-08-09T20:40:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kirk \* > \*\*But it is labeled. It has a space on it. \*\* This is true, although my keyboard is one of those rare ones that, due to some manufaturing quirk, has _two_ spaces printed on it. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/31 "2003-08-09T21:10:57Z")
I have one of those freaky rubbery flexible keyboards, and the space bar is broken up into 4 separate and labelled keys. Btw, I highly recommend these keyboards, they’re water-proof and do wonders for cutting down on the clickety-click typing noises! ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/32 "2003-08-09T21:18:24Z")
Four separate labeled keys? What are they labeled? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/33 "2003-08-09T21:38:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wolfrick \* > \ > Packard Bell/Hewlett Packard/Compaq/Whoever had so many tech-support calls from clueless new computer users who wanted to know why they couldn’t find a key marked “any” on their keyboard that they printed “ANY” in the middle of the spacebar of their ‘introductory computer system in a box’ computers as a cost-saving measure. > \ 1996? Hadn’t mainstream computers stopped saying “Press any key to continue” by 1995? ---
**Author:** ![Wolfrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bb73d2/32.png) [@Wolfrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfrick)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/34 "2003-08-10T01:34:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*1996? Hadn’t mainstream computers stopped saying “Press any key to continue” by 1995? \*\* Mostly the “Hit any key to continue” was found in installers that ran from Dos, like Windows95 and some other stuff. Some regular Windows based installers still display “informational” dialogue boxes with the legend “hit any key to continue” at the bottom. Of course, I can’t think of any examples at the moment 🙂 The urbanlegend probably wasn’t _new_ in 1996, that was just the first time I encountered it. ~Wolfrick ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/35 "2003-08-10T01:44:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xgxlx \* > \*\*Actually I had my whole keyboard labelled with the Dvorak keys as well as Qwerty, but that ended up smudging off within 2 weeks. The only reason the spacebar hasn’t smudged off is because it’s not labelled where I rest my thumbs. \*\* Just pop the keys off and rearrange them. That’s what I did. ',.pyfgcrl/= aoeuidhtns- ;qjkxbmwvz ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/36 "2003-08-10T02:13:44Z")
Yes, space keys are usually not labeled, however: some years ago, there was a Star Trek themed keyboard in the market, many keys were colored in the style of the bridge computers and had space themed labels, they did find a way to label the bar: “Space The final frontier” And no, I am not kidding. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/37 "2003-08-10T02:20:16Z")
And I forgot the board software eliminates spaces… :smack: THAT was suposed to be more like: “Space…………The Final Frontier” ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/38 "2003-08-10T03:05:11Z")
I seem to remember that the space key was labeled on old apple computer keyboards. At least, I think it was labeled on the one that came with the Apple IIgs. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/39 "2003-08-10T03:16:14Z")
My keyboard is about 2 year old now. There is a spot on the space bar that has worn smooth with a slight depression. I generally only use my right thumb on the space bar and of course, it is right under my right thumb as I type. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738/40 "2003-08-10T06:42:13Z")
This whole thread reads like variations on a Seinfeld routine. (Resist urge to complete the sentence, “Not that there’s…”) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-spacebar/193738.md?page=3)